Wills of prominent citizens displayed in Jim Thorpe

Documents were preserved with money from state grant.

October 26, 2002|By Bob Laylo Of The Morning Call

When lawyer and Jim Thorpe native Milton Dimmick died in 1884, he left much of his estate so his hometown could build a library.

On Friday, Dimmick's recently preserved will was on display at the library in downtown Jim Thorpe that bears his name. Carbon County Register of Wills Judy Moon also used the occasion to display the restored will of Harry Packer, whose family founded Lehigh University and the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

"It was something I wanted to do," Moon said. "I'm very proud of them. People should have an opportunity to see them."

People occasionally walked in and examined the wills, which are covered by plastic. A few wanted to handle them and had to don white gloves.

"The oils on your hands are not good for the paper," Moon said.

Some wanted copies of the wills. Some asked if they were the originals. Others commented on the fancy cursive writing.

For decades, the wills had been kept in file folders in the register of wills office. They had been folded, causing creases and small tears. Employees had mended them with tape.

The state Historical and Museum Commission gave Moon a $1,951 grant to restore the wills. The Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia removed the tape, smoothed the folds, cleaned the paper and put them in sleeves.

"They're much lighter and brighter," Moon said.

Diane Smith-Wallace from the Historical and Museum Commission said Carbon County's project was one of 50 that shared in the $440,000 awarded. She said the projects ranged from preserving wills to microfilming naturalization papers to starting archives.

She said Carbon County has received six grants totalling $31,976 in 10 years.

Moon said she may apply again to restore more wills from some of the millionaires who lived in the county.

"It's just amazing how much money was in the county years and years ago," she said.